It seems like every take-out-food or Starbucks-type place you go to now has a "tip" jar at the counter.

How do you feel about this? Does it put you off? Do you feel that it's too desirous?

Some friends of mine got into a debate about this, because one friend is trying to open a take-out joint, and someone brought up the issue of the tip jar.

Personally, it turns me off. The counter person is already getting paid to do their job -- they're not a waiter or waitress. Why should they be tipped in addition to their hourly wage? For example, Starbucks is known to have pay a decent wage, yet they always have tip jars (at least the ones I visit do.)

hey its their choice. no one held a gun to their head saying "YOU WILL WORK AT STARBUCKS FOR MINIMUM WAGE!"

they could have gone retail, or any of the other large number of low-paying jobs.

aside from that, yes, i feel the tip jar is a good thing. as someone who held a job at a baskin-robbins in high school, i loved the tip jar. of course my winning service, smile, and personality won over so many people, i was bitter that i had to split ALL the tips with my loser co-workers.

now that i am always the customer, i tend to lose change, so i just throw whatever change i have into the jar, not because i want to tip them, but because i'll just lose the change.

i really dont like tipping in general, i am paranoid i never give enough.

now that i am always the customer, i tend to lose change, so i just throw whatever change i have into the jar, not because i want to tip them, but because i'll just lose the change.

Don't go there. You'll be called a cheapskate or a tightarse for even raising this -- you are not allowed to use the "keep the change" argument on these forums (174thfwff deleted one of my posts because of this). You have to tip otherwise you will be damned for all eternity. Because, somehow, it is mine and your fault that these people are on minimum wage. If we don't tip, we are tightarses. But no-one who calls us this will ever call the employers themselves tightarses for not paying their workers a half-decent wage in the first place.

I don't really know if this is done elsewhere, but often here you will find next to the till, a money box with all money put in going to a charity -- something like Guide Dogs or the RSPCA or other charitable causes. If there is a charity box, I will usually chuck in any change which is under a buck.

haha, being called a tightwad for just giving a "keep the change" tip?

oh, thats rich!

yeah, i feel sorry for those (generally) not motivated enough to get the experience, training, or education to hold a non-minimum wage job then listen to them bitch about me not giving them a tip (at starbucks for example) which is NOT a part of their income.

the other day i ordered chinese delivery, from a place i ALWAYS order from. the food was $7, i gave $9, and the guy had the gall to suggest it wasn't enough. i stood dumbstuck and said "are you serious?" then he played the "what? i no understand" i said "you very well understand me, and this is a joke, here is your other dollar, and i guess thats the last time i'm ordering from you"

Starbucks isn't minimum wage. They usually pay about $0.50 to $0.75 above the local minimum wage as a start. Then every 6 months you get some sort of incremental wage increase. In 4 years I went from $8/hour to $9.84.

The tips are totaled up usually once every week and everybody's hours are totaled, too. Using some fancy math, they find out the per-hour amount and at the end of the week, we usually would end up with an extra $20 or so. Not too bad, actually. Managers don't get tips.

The tip jar is optional. If it puts you off, or somehow offends you, don't add to it. I have found that since I worked in a place that used them, I seem to tip more when in they are available.

Has anyone tried changing careers in this current economy? It took me 6 weeks and I still have to drive long haul or go back to Taco Bell. Another 8 years of always getting $.50 above minimum with no benefits? No thank you. I don't use the tip jar just because at this point I can not afford to but I do know what those workers have to go through. I get my latte, taco or whatever and get out. Nothing personal but the less interaction they have the happier they are.

I think tip jars at a convenience counter is crap. This is a fairly recent phenomenom in the last few several years. Let me clarify...

Tips generally are for waiters and waitresses. They make a COUPLE of bucks an hour, far below minimum wage. Tips ARE their wages. It gives them incentive to be quick and efficient, and it rewards those with the best performance the most.

Somebody standing at a counter, taking an order and giving to someone else, then moving on to the next should not be tipped imo. They are getting paid to do a simple job. Take an order, and pass it to the kitchen. I worked several years at one such place, so don't think I'm being harsh. I didn't get, deserve nor want tips for such a position.

Now, a waiter/waitress has to set your table, get your drink order, bring that, get your food order, bring that, clear the table as dinner goes and refill drinks, bring extra napkins, silverware, to-go boxes, etc. There is a lot of interpersonal stuff going on there, and people can be demanding. You can sit there for 3 hours ordering an occassional drink, and they still have to oblige you, though your bill is not going up quantitively enough to ensure a tip worthy of their effort. THAT deserves a tip. And I applaud them, as I could not put up with the assholes I've seen at restaraunts and bars, and I very much appreciate a conscientious server, and I tip very well accordingly.

But, to take a damn 20 second food order and have someone else make it, and hand it to me, and they are no longer affecting the outcome of my dining experience... please.

I feel that if I belly up to the counter place my order and then have the item handed to me, all the while I am standing there then usually no I do not tip, if the person behind the counter interacts and acts like they welcome my business and thank me, then yes I manage to tip..........

As a corprate pilot we fly alot of wealthy but cheap bastards around and what gets me is I will fly the 2000 miles thru crap weather find the smoothiest air do an approach down to 200 and a mile not kill anyone or even scare them Hell I never even spilled a drop out of there martini. So we get to our destination the line guy takes our pax luggage from the plane to his waiting limo. the line guy gets 20 bucks and I don,t get crap . Us pilots get no respect how about 15 percent !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Having spent a few years of my life working somewhere that has a tip jar.... let me throw in my 2 cents..

You don't tip because you have to. You tip, because you want to. If you go to your local Starbucks and the service is so good, and your drink is ready incredibly quickly, you might want to tip, and those barista's greatly appreciate it. Many of them are in college, and every couple dollars they earn in tips every week helps. If you feel like you've waited too long or the person wasn't friendly enough, don't tip. Its as simple as that.

I don't tip at these places...I don't feel getting a $.75 donut or $1.50 coffee/tea at Dunkin' Donuts merits a tip...

Now, if you really want to call me a tightwad, the other day, I went in to Dunkin Donuts for a donut, since I was hungry and wanted something to eat before dinner, which would be in 3 hours. The donut costs $.78 after taxes. I always take the change, as I might need it...there have been times when I would put it in the ashtray in my car and use it for a parking meter. When he gives me my donut, he proceeded to dump the $.22 in his little tip pail. I promptly told him that I didn't tip you, and that I wanted my money back. At least he appologized and gave me my money. And it's a good thing I did, because the next day, I found myself parking at a meter and one of those dimes he gave me promptly went into the meter. If I didn't get that change, it would have been pretty dicey, since I only had bills and the town regularly patrols the lot (after all, it's right across from the police station) and will ticket you $50 (I think) if you don't pay the meter.

I generally only tip when there is some sort of actual "service" involved. Obviously waiters and waitresses deserve tips, but with counter service it's a finer distinction. At Starbucks I usually tip (usually just the change, since the drink itself doesn't cost that much, unless the change is very small in which case I give a bit extra) because the barista actually has to do something to make my beverage. In fact, with drinks like lattes, the quality depends in large part on the skill of the person making it, so a good one definitely deserves a reward. However, if I were buying just a bottled drink from the case by the counter at a Starbucks, I probably wouldn't tip--there's no service involved, so it's no different from tipping in a convenience store, which I also think is silly, or in a supermarket, which is of course absurd.